(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a folding carton that is cut from a single blank of sheet material and is folded and assembled, without the use of glue, into a generally rectangular shaped carton having a top closure incorporating a carrying handle.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Many different shapes and sizes of folding cartons are known in the prior art. In many prior art folding cartons, their assembly from a blank sheet of material to a form from which they can be easily folded to or assembled to a box configuration often involves a gluing step. In the gluing step, one or more seams or sides of the prior art carton are glued together in order to enable the blank sheet of material to be folded from a flat storage configuration to its box configuration. In many prior art methods of manufacturing folding cartons, the gluing step is necessary in order for the carton to be folded or assembled to and maintain its box configuration.
A disadvantage associated with the gluing step involved in manufacturing prior art folding cartons is that it necessitates at least one extra step in the manufacturing process of forming a blank of sheet material into a folding carton. This additional step often accounts for a significant percentage of the total time required in manufacturing a blank of sheet material into a folding carton.
The gluing step also often adds significantly to the cost involved in manufacturing folding cartons. This is especially so when only a limited number of cartons are being produced and the cost involved in applying glue to the blank of sheet material and incorporating a gluing step in the overall assembly of the carton cannot be spread over a large number of cartons.
What is needed to reduce the time and cost involved in the manufacture of folding cartons is a folding carton that can be assembled from a single blank of sheet material into a three-dimensional box configuration that does not require glue or glue-like substances, or a gluing step in its manufacture.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a folding carton that is assembled into a three-dimensional box configuration from a single blank of sheet material, where the carton does not require glue or a glue-like substance to maintain or hold the folding carton in its assembled box configuration.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a folding carton that is cut from a single blank of sheet material and is folded into a three-dimensional box configuration without the use of glue or any other means separable from the blank itself of holding the folded blank in the box configuration.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a folding carton of the type just described that is assembled into its three-dimensional box configuration without the use of glue or a gluing step and also provides a closure at the top of the folded carton that incorporates a carrying handle.